In an interview with the editorial network Germany (RND/Sunday), Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) expressed his criticism of the payment of citizen’s allowance to Ukrainian refugees. He argued that supporting Ukrainian refugees financially while also claiming to support Ukraine as best as possible is contradictory. Stübgen, who is also the chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK), urged the federal government to reconsider their approach to providing financial support to Ukrainian refugees.
Both Stübgen and Herrmann have been vocal about the issue, with Herrmann emphasizing that citizen’s allowance should not be paid to men who are needed for military service in Ukraine, as they play a crucial role in the defense of the country. Both ministers plan to address this topic at the upcoming IMK meeting in Potsdam, where they aim to initiate discussions on changing the current approach to providing financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees, in order to ensure that the support provided aligns with the goal of helping Ukraine as a whole.